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Mozambique economy 2014: recent developments and prospects

Mozambique’s offshore fields hold a combined 150 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas, estimated to be enough to meet world consumption for more than two years. Negotiations between international consortia and the government to build a USD 40 billion LNG plant are dragging on with several players competing for the contract. The main consortium leaders, the US company, Anadarko, and Italian company, Eni, have reduced their investments in the project, selling stakes to new partners primarily from power hungry emergent economies. This has a two-fold outcome of diversifying funding sources for the LNG projects, while also potentially securing new markets for the final product. New entrants from India (ONGC Videsh) and China (CNPC) joined India’s Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Japan’s Mitsui & Co, Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production, and Galp Energia from Portugal. With an international partner yet to be selected, LNG production along with the sizeable contribution it will make to public finances is unlikely to start before 2020.